Spellblade
by Kurogane7
Summary: AU: Naruto was never in Konoha, having been raised by a lone swordsman for much of his life. How will he handle life in the Shinobi Nations without Konoha's influence? Inspired by the now-deleted story "The Blind Fox" by The Swordslinger. Final Fantasy/Naruto Cross. Dark Knight!Naruto (may change his job later). Rated T for now.
1. Arrival

_**A/N: New pilot for the year…hopefully it's up to par. I take inspiration from the now-deleted story "The Blind Fox" by The Swordslinger for this. I've not followed Final Fantasy for a while now, and now I'm coming back with a new Naruto cross with it. Thankfully, I've got the wiki ready for any snags along the way.**_

_**This will encompass a good amount of the "Final Fantasy" lore, primarily the Ivalice series and the job system from "Final Fantasy XI" (may be more later). So expect to find high-jumping Scottish Bangaa Dragoons, as well as Black Mages slinging extremely dangerous spells. Because it's gonna go across a number of "Final Fantasy" series, it will be labeled as a straight-up Naruto story instead of a crossover.**_

_**There may even be appearances from your favorite Final Fantasy characters later on. And just to be clear: NO! I will not pair Naruto with Yuffie! I'm a still straight-up Yuffentine shipper. **_

_**As per tradition with my stories, the amount of reviews you have will determine if this story is a worthy pursuit, so do please read and review, would you kindly? And do keep it classy.**_

…

[Unknown Location]

A brown-haired boy yawned as he sat by the fire with his colleagues, the crackle of the embers floating from the flames roasting skewered lizards as he settled down on his log. He was positioned in such a manner as to make it easy for him to keep watch on their objective, which was a cart filled with boxes that they were transporting to a nearby town south of Konoha. In addition, he had to keep an eye on the chocobo to make sure nothing bad happened to it; partly because _none_ of the kids wanted to pull the wagon, but also because that bird was a rental. Because of the bird's importance for the mission's expedience, it was agreed upon that everyone would take hourly shifts to watch the cart while the others slept.

"Well, since we're waiting, how about I tell you kids a story?" asked a white-haired man sitting at the other end of the fire, biting into his lizard. He wore a solid steel happuri with the Konoha crest engraved on the forehead that framed a somewhat stern face, marred with a red mark on each of his cheeks, and one on his chin. He wore a blue, gi and trousers over a body that was well-built for an even balance between agility and strength, composed mostly of wiry muscle. The only serious piece of protection he wore was the mesh armor he wore under his gi.

"What kind of story, sensei?" queried a bespectacled boy with a white scarf.

"It's a story I've been told when I was younger, Homura," answered the man, "This will help pass the time and keep us awake a little longer before we take shifts."

The only girl of the group set aside her lizard in favor of leaning in on her master. "How does it go?"

"Long ago, when the world was young, a ship crashed on this world, carrying the moon-people's greatest champion," began the master, "Stranded, and cut off from his people, the warrior of the moon-people chose to wander the land, meeting many people; those he deemed worthy, he taught the secrets of his people. Those who were wicked, often found themselves at the business end of his mighty sword.

"One day, he encountered a princess that was sitting on a pedestal, waiting to be sacrificed to a titanic monster to save her people. After a long battle, he struck down the monster, saving the princess and taking her back to her village; it was there that he learned that there were more monsters, and that they would come for the village. Undeterred, the warrior of the moon chose to stay, and when the day of battle came, he slew all the monsters, creating what we now know as the Mountain's Grave.

"With the siege broken, and the monsters defeated, the people celebrated, heaping praises upon the moon-warrior. Some called him Susanoo, others referred to him as Fudo, but everyone simply knew him as the Moon Champion."

"What happened to him afterwards, Tobirama-sensei?" asked the girl.

"Nobody knows, Koharu," answered the master, "Any mention of him was lost after that day. Though some say that he stayed in the village he saved and married the princess, then lived happily ever after. Others believe he instead went back to the road, eventually taking on two brothers as his apprentices and raising them as his sons. But I'd like to believe that he found peace."

"So why tell us this story, sensei?" asked the brown-haired boy.

"I just wanted to tell this story to someone new, Hiruzen," Tobirama replied wistfully, "It's rare these days that people know of the Moon Champion anymore, and his story is very close to being forgotten."

…

[Somewhere in Hi no Kuni, generations later]

The silence of the night was broken by the sounds of a baby's cries as a man in a one-eyed spiral mask strode through the forest. He wore a black overcoat with red clouds printed at the bottom, as well as a form-fitting black bodysuit underneath. The only thing that was exposed to the world was the mess of spiky black hair on his head.

The baby in question was a young boy with whisker-marks on his cheeks, crying in a blanket. "It seems I've underestimated the Yondaime Hokage's determination," he mused to himself, "To think he would use his son as a Jinchūriki to deny me my objective. Well, I can only tip my hat off to him for his dedication."

The masked man simply stared thoughtfully at the baby, contemplating his next course of action. After a moment's thought, he set the bundle down on the floor while drawing a kunai. "Sorry, but Konoha must be destroyed and…"

Whatever else the masked man had to say slowed to a halt when he felt a sudden breeze washing over the forest. He looked around the area to see if he'd been followed.

"Leave the child alone," demanded a voice from behind. The masked man turned around quickly to see that he wasn't alone; sitting atop a boulder was a hulking mass of a man that glared upon him with hard, reddish-brown eyes. He had the appearance of a Kumogakure native, with bronze skin and smooth, cream-colored hair flowing the wind. The only articles of clothing he wore were a black leather cape; wreaths of black and red prayer beads on his wrists, left bicep, and ankles; and what appeared to be a black leather kilt. The massive sword sheathed across his back, in combination with his muscular body, gave the appearance of an ancient barbarian warrior that could crush a skull in one of his massive hands. And yet, there was a power coursing within the giant that belied his hulking stature; there was an intelligence in his eyes that belonged to a leader.

The masked man turned his attention to the giant, his voice calm. "This does not concern you, stranger."

"What do you gain from murdering a child?" queried the barbarian, his expression calm with a hint of anger mixed in, "What do you hope to achieve by depriving a newborn of their life?"

"Revenge," the masked man answered simply.

"Against whom?" asked the barbarian, a threatening edge in his inflection as he lowered himself from the boulder. As the barbarian took steps towards him, the masked man could feel his heart racing; it felt as though he were staring down some mighty predator that was ready to pounce at the slightest movement. "If it were against this child's parents, then I can see that you've already had your vengeance, but that's not enough, is it? When will it end?"

As the barbarian came to a complete stop in front of the baby, the masked man was able to appreciate how much bigger he was. On top of the fact that he eyeballed him to be a good 230 centimeters tall, he had the stance of someone that was more than confident in their skills. "You wouldn't understand if I told you."

"You're treading a dangerous path, one you will not be able to walk back from," warned the barbarian, his hand traveling towards the grip of his sword, "Leave the child be; you've spilled enough blood for your hatred tonight."

Both men were silent as they glared at each other. Neither side was willing to back down, until the masked man heaved an infuriated sigh. "Very well then, not like it's worth it to pick a fight with you. Not now, at least."

The masked man turned to leave. After taking a few steps away, he twirled around to fling a kunai at the barbarian with a flick of his wrist, only for his opponent to deflect the projectile with sweep of his cape before drawing his massive sword. The barbarian cleared the distance between them in a single stride in an attempt to cleave his opponent in twain with the black blade of his sword. The masked man managed backpedal just in time to avoid being bisected; he'd barely had time to clap his hands together for a jutsu when his opponent recovered with an upward counter-cut, forcing him to take another hop backward.

Recoiling in pain, the masked man looked down at his right arm, to find that his forearm was missing before glaring back at the barbarian with a mixture of hate and fear his remaining eye. He opened a portal at his feet just in time for the barbarian open his palm in front of him, chakra coalescing into a spherical shape in his hand. The sphere of energy streaked towards the masked man, barely passing over his head as he fell through the portal before exploding in a brilliant flash.

Satisfied that his opponent was no longer in the area, the barbarian sheathed his sword and turned to regard the crying baby. As he studied the boy's features, he began to contemplate his next move; the blond seemed to have massive potential locked away in his tiny frame, though something bothered the barbarian about the lad. Pulling off the boy's blankets revealed a helical ink drawing brushed over his navel, with seals written around it—the mark of a Jinchūriki.

The barbarian heaved a sigh of exasperation. "So you're in possession of a heavy burden? Your life will not be easy."

Thoroughly contemplating his next move, the barbarian hefted the bundle in one arm, smiling warmly at the babe. He knew that Konoha was the most logical place to take him, but he also knew that while there were exceptions, many Jinchūriki had suffered greatly at the hands of bigots they were meant to protect. "Perhaps it is time I had some company," he mused to himself, before finding a word written on the blanket, "Your name is Naruto? Such a strange name. Very well, I will ensure you are strong enough to walk your own path, Naruto."

…

[Nami no Kuni, 15 years later]

There was a dead silence that pervaded the village of Nami no Kuni as the people wandered listlessly through the streets. The only thoughts on everyone's minds were of the horrible situation they had to deal with. Shops were empty of products, with premium prices on what few commodities they were selling. The island nation had turned into quite possibly the world's largest slum district.

A boy walked the streets, looking around the village, much of his body was covered with a high-collared leather cape that went down to his ankles. He had sun-kissed hair, and cerulean eyes that surveyed the town with no small modicum of pity for the villagers. He was tall for his age, and the build under his cape suggested that he lived an ascetic life of hard training. The only thing he carried with him was a long, thin, T-shaped item wrapped in cloth.

"Excuse me, can I help you?" asked a voice from behind. The boy turned around to see a woman in a pink shirt with midnight-colored hair. She studied him with a combination of curiosity and suspicion while holding a pair of grocery bags in her arms.

"Yeah, I came to see the Wave Festival," answered the boy, "Have I come at a bad time?"

"I'm afraid you have," replied the woman, a hint of sympathy in her tone, "We're not holding the Wave Festival this year. Situation's way too bad right now."

The boy sighed in disappointment. "Figures. Do you know of an inn I can stay at?"

"I do, but you'd be paying a hefty sum," advised the woman, "With things as bad as they are, I wouldn't be surprised; prices have been skyrocketing on everything for a while now." As she looked at the boy, the woman noted the cloth-wrapped item he was carrying. "Is that what I think it is?"

"Yeah, it's a sword," the boy replied simply, beaming with pride, "My sensei had it made for me; really nice piece of work too."

"Are you a shinobi?"

The caped boy nodded. "Nah, just a wanderer that can handle himself in a fight."

There was a thoughtful look on the older woman's features, before she smiled. "Well then how would you like some free room and board?" she finally asked, "All I ask is that you serve as my bodyguard free of charge until my father gets back."

After a few seconds of silence, the boy shrugged lightly. "Why not? Nothing else to do." He shouldered his wrapped sword before extending a hand from his cape to shake. It was bare, and rippling with muscles. "You've got yourself a deal, miss…?"

"Tsunami," answered the woman, taking the boy's hand in hers, "And you?"

"The name's Naruto."

…

_**A/N: And there it is…first completely new story for the year.**_

_**Again, I hope it's up to par.**_

_**If you have a "Final Fantasy" character you'd like to show up in this story, tell me in a review where you'd be likely to find them in Naruto-verse. And please keep it classy.**_

…

_**Vocabulary/References:**_

_**The Barbarian━Golbez from "Final Fantasy IV: The After Years."**_

_**The Barbarian's height━230 centimeters roughly translates to 7½ feet tall in the US.**_


	2. Common Interest

_**A/N: And here we go with the newest chapter of Spellblade.**_

_**For future reference, the only Final Fantasy job I will not be including in this fic will be Ninja, reason being that it would be redundant in a world full of shinobi. However, it will not be completely dead as all Naruto-Shinobi will have access to elements of the job as basic skills.**_

_**And to those of you who are fans of the job, I will in fact be including Samurai, which is not so redundant. Everyone will be referred to by the classes they fit in as (i.e. Kimimaro may fit as a Dancer/Thief, while Tayuya would likely be a Bard/Summoner). However, because the Shinobi Nations is full of Samurai and Ninja, every combatant will at least be qualified to use a one-handed Katana or fist-weapons.**_

_**Any unique jutsu that the characters may have will either be a Limit Break or a spell categorized into the colored magic by their effect (i.e. Sharingan will be a Limit Break, while Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu will be a Black Magic spell). Though given the number of offensive jutsu vs. support/healing jutsu, I'm tempted to add Black Mage to the list of jobs I won't have returning. In any case, I will tell the difference between 'magic' and 'jutsu' at a later occasion.**_

_**So if you have an idea of jobs to assign to Naruto characters, please speak up. I'm open to ideas.**_

_**…**_

[Hokage's Office, several days later]

Hiruzen fumed in his chair, his pipe failed to give him any respite from the rising frustration he'd had to deal with. During the past few months, he'd had to deal with a string of murders that were happening all over Hi no Kuni. It wasn't so bad when the victims were bandit leaders, but when the they included people in the upper-class like clergymen and noblemen, it was no surprise that the killer fetched a pretty high price on the Bingo Book.

Whatever thoughts he'd had on the matter were interrupted when Iruka walked in with a manila folder tucked under his arm. "Another one?" the elder asked exasperatedly.

"I'm afraid so," answered the chūnin sheepishly, "The good news is that we've got a pigeon back from Shikamaru: he thinks he has a theory about these serial murders, and he needs to see you about it."

"Send him in," Hiruzen commanded, looking through the file, "If we can figure out why they're all being assassinated, we might be able to find a motive so we can plan accordingly."

The old Kage huffed as he closed the file, setting it on his desk in favor of picking up a spherical white pin and a spool of red string. He strode towards a map of Hi no Kuni with pins joined together by strands of red string; each pin was pressed into a location where an assassination had occurred, starting with the first attack near the border of Tetsu no Kuni. After that, the murders seemed to go on in a random trajectory, starting with the Takigakure area, before heading towards Kumogakure, making a detour towards Yugakure, and finally wandering around in Hi no Kuni.

The most recent attack that the killer had perpetuated was at a town to the southeast of Konoha, and the victim was a philanthropist known as Hira Rikichi; a businessman who donated funds towards women's rights and the condemnation of female sex trafficking. Most called him a hero, but even he had his fair share of enemies…and according to the forensics reports, he'd made a pretty big enemy. The murderer was a swordsman that stabbed Rikichi through the heart, and then lopped off his head in one swipe.

Descriptions of the attacker came from panicked witnesses that saw the assailant cut down their colleagues en route to their target. Many of said witnesses were criminals with priors the size of a dictionary, but they were consistent enough to be plausible; speaking of figure fully clad in a suit of armor, wielding a sword as black as night among other weapons, and slinging Black Magic. The descriptions were consistent with a Dark Knight, which were fairly rare in the Shinobi Nations, but a little more common in Tetsu no Kuni. For some reason, the Dark Knight targeted high-profile criminals and Monsters, but he (or she) also went after people in the upper-class such as priests, businessmen, and nobles, even a few highly dangerous nuke-nin for good measure

As the door opened, Hiruzen set down the file to have a look at the shinobi that had just entered his office. His jet black hair was done up in a spiky ponytail behind his head, and he had subtle, streamlined features reminiscent of a deer. The green flak jacket he wore marked him as a chūnin-level shinobi. Nara Shikamaru had recently been attached to the task force assigned to apprehend the Dark Knight, and detain them for questioning before they killed anyone else.

"So I understand you have a theory about the murders, Shikamaru?" asked the Kage.

Shikamaru nodded in affirmation. "After looking through the murders, and the past cases up till now, I have a guess. It's troublesome, but so far, I've come to believe that these weren't just random acts of violence…that these so-called 'upstanding citizens' actually _deserved_ to die."

"How do you figure that?" Hiruzen asked.

"I've had a look around the latest victim's village," began Shikamaru, "Apparently, it seemed to be doing better since he lost his head, so I decided to poke around his office to find out why. Found a hidden passage behind his bookshelf that led to a cave filled with lots of cages and slave collars, and dead guys carrying whips. Ironically enough, it looks like Rikichi moonlighted as a slave trafficker…and that's just the most recent case."

Hiruzen nodded for Shikamaru to continue on. "Police Commissioner Genzaburo Takemura of Tanzaku City, a big name in the fight against police corruption, took bribes and ran his own drug-running operation. Retsu Himiko, the pharmaceutical CEO, conducted illegal drug trials that almost killed off everyone in the nearby village. And after a lot more questioning, it turns out that Abbot Ogaki, head of the Jizo Monastery up north, was really a pedophile that took advantage of several young monks. All of these 'innocent victims' were guilty of crimes so bad that jail's too good for them."

"So we're dealing with a vigilante," noted the Kage, "You have any idea where they're going?"

"It looks like they're headed south of us," explained the Nara heir, studying the map, "And that's not all. I've questioned witnesses at several of those places; it looks like our Good Samaritan killer shows up shortly after some guy with golden hair and whisker marks on his cheeks walks into town, and disappears when he leaves."

Hiruzen reclined in his seat, silently puffing on his pipe as he contemplated Shikamaru's assessment. _Where could he possibly go down south…?_

As he breathed out a long plume of smoke, a thought had entered the old Kage's mind. Hiruzen quickly turned to Iruka. "Who did we send south?"

"Let's see now…Team Kakashi's been sent to Nami no Kuni," answered the chūnin, looking at the roster, "Along with Team Kurenai for backup."

"Send a pigeon to them, now!" snapped the old Kage, "If we make it, we might detain our vigilante there!"

…

[Nami no Kuni]

Two shinobi teams trudged through the woods, transporting one of their number as they followed an elderly man with in a straw hat. Both moved slowly so as not to jostle their patient too much, as well as to keep an eye out for potential ambushes.

One team had a boy in a fur-lined hoodie with his Konoha hitai-ate worn around his neck. His tanned skin contrasted by the red fang-marks running down his face that marked him as an Inuzuka. He was accompanied by a giant Great Pyrenees that was transporting a silver-haired shinobi across his back.

Another boy in the team a high-collared hoodie that went down to his knees, hands in his pockets. He viewed the world through a pair of sunglasses as he kept vigil for potential attackers. The insects that hovered around him marked him as an Aburame clansman.

The only girl in the group was dressed in an open, two-tone beige and lilac jacket over a sheer mesh that held back her generous assets. She also wore lilac short-shorts, and a pair of open-toe calf-socks with open heels. Long, indigo hair down to the small of her back, framing a smooth, pale face. Her pupil-less, lavender eyes marked her as a member of the Hyūga clan.

They were led by a raven-haired woman with red eyes, dressed in a simple striped dress that allowed for more freedom of movement. She had a delicate frame, with a body built mainly for speed and seduction, but her gait spoke of a trained fighter.

The other team's ranks were the opposite; filled in by a boy with an ebon duck-butt hairdo, dressed in an off-white gi and a tied pair of indigo hakama; he carried a chokuto in a shirasaya sheath at his left side, prepared to draw it at a moment's notice.

His teammate was a pinkette in a red qipao and beige short-shorts. Her hair was done up with a red hitai-ate, protecting her large forehead. The only serious piece of protection she wore were a pair of iron-grey knife-proof gloves with reinforced knuckles, which complemented the slim, athletic body she had.

The other girl in his team wore a simple yellow flower-pattern kimono over a sarashi that covered her slightly more modest bust, and a short beige skirt. her long ponytail was reined in with a pink ribbon tied at the end. Like the girl in the hoodie, she had the Byakugan; although hers were stark-white.

"How long until we're at your place, Tazuna?" asked the Inuzuka boy, his dog barking in assent.

"Not far now," answered the old man, "We can let your other leader recuperate on the couch, while you guys keep an eye on the perimeter."

"A sound idea," added the Aburame, pushing up his sunglasses, "You never know what'll happen."

The walk towards the client's house was silent as they kept vigil along the way. Their main priority was to ensure the client's safety; and while the protection and recovery of their colleague was on the back burner, he still needed attention soon.

"We're here," announced the client, coming to a stop in front of a picket fence. The house was a simple affair; it was a medium-sized, two-story building with an attic on top. It looked modest enough, but it was still well-put together.

Tazuna opened the door, allowing entrance into his abode. "Come in, you people need a rest after your tussle."

The Inuzuka laid the one-eyed jōnin down on the couch. Once they were confident that the other leader team was comfortable, they themselves settled down all over the living room, heaving sighs of relief.

It hadn't been long since Teams 7 and 8 had cut their teeth in a proper fight. Before, they'd handled brigands and maybe a few low-level mercenaries with minimal effort; today, their skills were put to the test against a jōnin from the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist. Momochi Zabuza was a dangerous shinobi that was on the run from Kirigakure for his failed attempt to assassinate the Mizukage. He was a Dark Knight that was skilled with both sword and spell; what he couldn't cut down with his greatsword Kubikiribocho, he would destroy with his water jutsu.

He wasn't alone either, as they also had to deal with Tavish, a notorious Bangaa mercenary. He was a Dragoon, so he was often out of the fight, leaping high into the sky before landing upon various targets with a thundering crash. That wasn't to say that Tavish was a coward, as he demonstrated a surgeon's skill with the spear, sometimes slashing at targets to set them up for being crushed under his entire weight. He was fast enough to keep the female jōnin busy, giving her no opportunity to use a single spell, even managing to graze her at the side several times.

Were it not for the students joining in on the fight, the teachers would have been killed. Still, nobody got out of the fight unscathed…least of all the sisters that were riding on the Great Pyrenees. One team dealt with Zabuza, while the other handled his Dragoon support, fighting for almost half an hour until the one-eyed jōnin's team freed him, and ending the fight using Zabuza's own jutsu against him.

Before the team leaders could deal the finishing blow on the duo, a Kirigakure ANBU operative threw senbon at their necks, killing both Momochi Zabuza and Tavish instantly. After that, the two sides parted ways, with the ANBU carrying off the bodies of their opponents.

The one-eyed jōnin stirred awake, his eye exploring the unfamiliar location. "Where am I?"

"You're in my house," answered Tazuna, "We're safe for now."

"And my team?" queried the silver-haired shinobi.

"All accounted for, Kakashi-sensei," replied the girl in the kimono.

Whatever the jōnin was about to say was cut off when the front door opened, allowing passage for a dark-haired beauty in a pink shirt with a bag of groceries in her arms. Her eyes were wide with surprise, before it melted away into relief.

"Father, you're back!" she called out, joy in her voice.

"Tsunami!" Tazuna replied, running towards his daughter and hug her.

The younger woman broke off from the hug to regard her father. "Did anything happen on the way back?"

"Ran into a bit of trouble," the bridge-builder answered, "I'd have been killed twice over if it weren't for the shinobi teams I managed to get on our side."

Tsunami turned to regard the shinobi teams with gratitude in her eyes as she bowed from the waist. "I thank you for keeping my father safe."

"Think nothing of it," answered Kakashi, raising his hand in acknowledgement.

"Anything happen while I was gone?" Tazuna asked.

"Not much, I made sure the guys went back to work," Tsunami answered, "Though I did manage to get someone to work as a bodyguard."

Tazuna raised his eyebrow in curiosity. "Did you now?"

The younger woman nodded in assent. "Yes, he's willing to work in exchange for some room and board until he feels it's time to leave."

"Well where is he?"

"Already here, Tsunami-san!" called out a voice from outside.

A teenaged boy in a high-collared cape walked into the house with a bag of groceries in one hand, and what looked like a wrapped sword in the other. He had spiky golden hair that peeked out of the collar of his leather cape, and he viewed the world through a pair of cerulean eyes. Underneath his cape, his physique was made up of dense, wiry muscles that showed prominently on a well-muscled torso that had seen its fair share of combat. Such was his musculature that it threatened to burst out of the metal pauldron and gauntlet he wore on his left arm. Whatever modesty he had left was covered with an orange sash that was worn on a belt over a pair of indigo cargo shorts that extended just below his knees.

"Well, looks like you guys really got yourselves a team of bodyguards, dattebayo," noted the stranger, putting down the groceries to unbutton the collar of his cape. The face underneath had strong, lightly chiseled features that had come from a long life of training, but what really identified him were the whisker marks on each of his cheeks.

"The name's Naruto, wandering swordsman," greeted the stranger, "I hope we can get along."

Kakashi paled as he stared at the boy, his remaining eye widened in shock; everyone else eyed Naruto with a measure of suspicion. The Hyūga girls on the other hand, were more curious than suspicious. Either way, he was the center of attention for the Konoha shinobi.

"Mom! Grandpa!" shouted a voice from the doorway, breaking the tension in the room. A small form ran into the house to hug Tazuna around his waist.

"Good to see you again, Inari!" replied the old man.

The boy looked around, and quickly found that he wasn't alone. "Who're you guys?"

"These are the shinobi that protected your grandpa," answered Tsunami, "Why don't you say hello?"

Whatever good mood Inari was in had quickly turned into something ugly as he walked up the stairs without saying a word. "Inari!" Tsunami cried out.

When she received no response, the homemaker turned to regard the shinobi teams with an apologetic expression. "I'm really sorry about this; he's normally not this bad."

"No problem," answered Kakashi, "I'm sure we've all had our bad days."

Tsunami nodded gratefully at the one-eyed jōnin before turning her attention back to Naruto. "I'm sorry, I know we had an arrangement to let you have a room, but now that my father's got this much help…"

"It's fine, dattebayo," Naruto interrupted, "I'm used to sleeping in the outdoors. You don't travel as long as I have and not get used to it."

"No, but I insist," argued the homemaker, "It'd make me feel bad that I went back on my word; so maybe you'd settle for the basement instead?"

Naruto thought for a moment, before nodding in assent. "Sure thing."

Heaving a sigh of relief, Tsunami pointed towards a door near the stairway. "That will take you downstairs to the basement. My father was going to make a guest room a while ago, but he didn't have the time to get around to it."

"Hey, no worries," Naruto assured, "I've slept in worse places."

As Tsunami left for the kitchen, Naruto and the two Shinobi teams sat with Tazuna around Kakashi. "It's good to see everyone together," said the cyclops, "But something's bothering me."

"Don't look at me," the Inuzuka added defensively, "We moved pretty slowly."

The giant dog barked in agreement.

"It's not you and Akamaru, Kiba," Kakashi replied, "It's about the fight we had with Zabuza and Tavish. There's something wrong that I seemed to have missed, but I can't put my finger on it."

"Aren't you overthinking things a bit?" Tazuna asked, "I mean, they're both dead, aren't they?"

"If only things were so simple," answered the red-eyed Kunoichi, "I'm with Kakashi on this, something isn't right; and the way they were killed seemed too easy."

The Hyūga in the hoodie sat quietly in her seat. She was silent until her eyes widened in realization. "Kurenai-sensei, the ANBU operative! I didn't think of it before, but her senbon didn't hit any of the fatal tenketsu points in their necks!"

Kurenai and Kakashi silently pondered what she'd said, until they came to the same conclusion. "Why didn't I see it before?!" said the former, face-palming, "Senbon can be very accurate, but they have less range than kunai and shuriken, and require a skilled hand to be devastating."

"An ANBU that sucks at killing?" Naruto asked in disbelief, "Seriously?"

Everybody in the room stared at Naruto. "I fought my share of nuke-nin in my travels, dattebayo," he defended, "I'm pretty sure some of them had to at least be ANBU-level."

The Inuzuka scoffed. "Whatever you say."

"You'll never match Sasuke-kun!" added the pinkette, trying and failing to wrap her arms around the raven-haired swordsman in question.

"Either way, the fact remains that we'll have to deal with Zabuza and Tavish again in the near future," Kakashi interjected, stopping the exchange immediately, "I'm pretty sure a Bangaa will heal faster, but if they're going to attack us at full strength, I estimate that Zabuza may need at least a week to recover. Which means that starting tomorrow, all of you are going to have to train harder to prepare." He then turned his attention to Naruto, who was listening in. "Since we're apparently going to be working with you, I think it'd be good to see what you're capable of. So before we do anything else, I want see you and Sasuke sparring tomorrow."

…

[Elsewhere]

"Ah, bloody-!" a blue Bangaa barked, his droopy ears swaying with his head in pain. He had stark white scales on his underside, exposing his lanky, but powerful frame with another set of bandages around one of his legs and on his tail. Nearby, a heavy suit of plate armor rested on a stand next to a long, two-pronged spear with a flanged metal butt-spike and a small, one-handed sword. He glared at a young girl in green clothing that was suturing bite marks on his arm with fury in his brown eyes, while gnashing his sharp teeth at her. "Be gentle why don't ya, lass?!"

"You're lucky you got out alive at all, Tavish," answered the girl, tightening the sutures, "Any more hits from that Hyūga girl, and you would have suffered severe internal bleeding, allowing the bugs easy access to whatever mana you have left."

Tavish recoiled slightly as the girl threaded the needle closer to the end of the bite mark. "Probably would've been better if ya let me have ma bevvy, Haku!"

"Then you probably would've bled out faster," Haku added bluntly, trimming the suture before wrapping a bandage around it, "The only reason I'm keeping you alive is because you and my master agreed to put aside your differences until after the job is done."

"Ah still haven't forgotten about bloody Kumogakure, lass!" Tavish fired back, glaring at the bedridden man as Haku wrapped gauze over the bandage, "You two cost me a lot o' money, when ya killed ma client! If it weren't for the fact that we're all fighting for the Resistance, Ah would'a settled our dispute on the spot!"

"And you're good to go," the girl finished, tightening the gauze enough to earn a yelp from Tavish before cutting off the gauze tucking in the end, "After this job is done, and we get out alive, you two can resume your last argument. Though I'm confident that Zabuza will still be your equal."

Their conversation was interrupted as cackling could be heard from the hallway. "Zabuza, what're you doing here?" queried a short, balding man in a black business suit and round sunglasses. His arrogant smirk was framed with a whisker-like mustache, giving him a somewhat rat-like appearance. He was accompanied by a pair of human bodyguards, and a Seeq with a broken horn wielding a disproportionately large axe. "I paid you and that lizard friend of yours to kill Tazuna, not come back here to lick your wounds!"

Tavish said nothing, choosing instead to gnash his teeth and growl under his breath at the insult; it was common sense to never call a Bangaa a 'lizard' within earshot. Were it not for the fact that the rat-man was paying them, he would have punched his teeth in. "Gatō, tae what do we owe the pleasure?"

"You guys think you're tough shit, but in reality, you both fucked up on the assassination!" Gatō replied, his smirk drooping into an angry scowl.

"We ran into unexpected reinforcements," Tavish defended, rotating his shoulder in its socket, "He came back with two Shinobi teams."

Gatō glared at Tavish through his round sunglasses before kicking him in his bandaged shin, eliciting a howl of pain and a fountain of profanities from the Bangaa mercenary. "I don't remember talking to you, lizard!"

The businessman turned to regard Zabuza with contempt as he walked towards him, while Tavish glared daggers at his back. "And you! Are you going to let some sub-human lizard speak in your defense?"

Zabuza said nothing, choosing instead to stare at the ceiling as Gatō snarled in rage, rearing back his arm to punch the nuke-nin. "Answer me you-"

Gatō was cut off from his tirade when Haku reached out for his forearm, stopping his punch midway from Zabuza's face. Her face was a grimace of pure rage as she squeezed harder, crushing the bones underneath with one hand, earning an agonized scream from their client. "You will not touch him."

The bodyguards moved quickly; by the time the human Samurai touched the grips of their katana, Haku stood between them, her hands on their wrists stopping them from drawing their blades. "I'd leave now…I'm in a foul mood right now."

As the Seeq Warrior readied his axe, Tavish stood behind him, the tines of his twin-pronged spear pressed lightly into the junction where the shoulders met the neck. The bandage on his shin was bleeding as he held his stance over the porcine thug. "Be smart and listen tae the lass, ya clatty roaster!"

Seeing no other recourse, Gatō and his thugs ran towards the door. The businessman turned to regard the trio with no shortage of hate in his eyes. "This is your last chance! Fuck up again, and I'll have you three killed!"

Once the intruders were out of the safehouse, Tavish sat back down on his couch, nursing his opened wound. "Chew ma banger, ya naffy boggin' dobber," he bit out, before turning his attention back to Zabuza, "As for you ya bawbag…you'd better stay alive so we can see which of us is really the strongest."

"Whatever you say, Tavish," Zabuza groused, "By the way Haku, you really didn't need to do that."

"You're in no condition to refuse," Haku teased, walking towards a partition, "Tavish will recover faster than you; you on the other hand, are going to need a lot more care if you want to get back into fighting condition."

As she walked out of the partition, her drab greens were traded off for a simple pink kimono over a sarashi and tight shorts.

"You look just as beautiful as ever in that, Haku," praised a voice entering the safehouse. Everyone's attention was drawn to a woman in a pinstriped shirt, dark grey pants, and a bandage loosely wrapped around her neck. Her red hair was tied up at the sides of her head in such a manner as to resemble horns, while the rest cascaded down her back. Holstered at the small of her back were a pair of short, double-edged swords wrapped in bandages, each with a small prong protruding upward from the tip and from the reverse end near the guard.

"Well I'll be…if it ain't Ringo Ameyuri," Tavish said, setting his two-pronged spear aside, "What're ya doin' here, lass?"

"I'm tracking someone down," the swordswoman answered simply.

"You're tracking someone down?" Haku repeated.

Ameyuri nodded. "And if I'm right, he should already be here by now."

"I know that tone," noted the Bangaa, "How did he get yer attention?"

The swordswoman smiled. "He fought me to a stalemate in Takigakure."

_**…**_

_**A/N: And that's it for now.**_

_**And as promised, I gave you a Scottish Bangaa. I had help from the Scottish Insult Generator for this…as well as various sources for Tavish's dialogue. Expect more colorful Scottish insults whenever we run into a Bangaa.**_

_**Anyway, do please review, and keep it classy, would you kindly?**_

_**…**_

_**Vocabulary/References:**_

_**Naruto's appearance: Basically a modification of Jecht's outfit, only he wears sandals of for the sake of practicality.**_


	3. Declaration of War

_**A/N: Finally; it's a bit short, I know, but it'll get longer. In any case, do read and review, would you kindly?**_

…

[Zabuza's safe house]

"Ya fought a lad tae a stalemate in Takigakure?" asked Tavish, disbelief heavy in his tone, "What were ya even doin' there in the first place?"

"I was there on a job," answered Ameyuri, beginning her story, "Kidnap some green-haired girl, and make off with her to the extraction point alive; in and out, simple as that. Went smoothly enough━caught the target just as she was getting out of her house, knocked her out then hogtied her, and began leaving the premises. Apparently, life decided that it was too easy for me, because this kid with whisker marks on his cheeks and a big-ass sword came running out of the bushes; would've taken my head off in one swing if I didn't put the girl down. We fought with sword and magic for almost half an hour, and all that time he'd been giving me the hardest workout I've ever had. Would've fought even longer if that green-haired wench didn't get back up and started helping him out; turned out she was Takigakure's Jinchūriki. Had to cut my losses and get away."

"And you've been tracking him down since then?" Haku asked, genuinely curious.

"After making up for the cash I lost from that job, yeah," Ameyuri continued, "Followed his trail to the east into Kaminari no Kuni, then found his trail going south."

"You're looking for that brat too, Ringo?" asked a new voice that entered the safe house.

Everyone inside the safe house turned to see three new guests that had entered. All three were men, each wielding different weapons, and carried themselves with an air of experience as they strode into the living quarters. One of them was a tall and lanky man in a Kirigakure ANBU mask and a black tank top. His weapon was a long, thin sword that resembled a sewing needle with tape wrapped around what passed for its grip and a fine thread tied to its eye.

Another man had a short beard, and was the shortest of the newcomers. He wore a pinstripe shirt, and his hitai-ate as a cap with his ponytail poking out from behind. Slung over his shoulder was a long, flat strip of strong leather with a large axe at one end, and an equally large mallet on the other.

The other bearded man in the group also wore a pinstripe shirt, and was in between his colleagues in height. Unlike the axeman, he wore his hair and beard longer and in strands, separated with dark green beads. He had an eyepatch over his left eye, and the top of his head was bandaged under his hitai-ate. His weapon resembled a large axe with a scroll attached behind the blade.

"Akebino Jinin, Kuriarare Kushimaru, and Munashi Jinpachi," Tavish noted exasperatedly, "Get Chōjūrō and Kisame here, and we'll have ourselves a bloody reunion."

"Okay, I know I spotted Jinpachi somewhere in Yu no Kuni for a classified mission, but what were you and Kushimaru doing in the mainland, Jinin?" Ameyuri asked.

"Like you, we were on a mission, only in Kaminari no Kuni," explained the axeman, "Our job was threefold: kill our client's business rival Barret Wallace, take the female Jinchūriki to sell on the slave market on his behalf, and kill the guy that hung out with and defended _both_ Jinchūriki and the target. We had a time frame to get the jobs done, so we went in with every thug on the client's payroll and then killing any witnesses on our way out."

"Learned the hard way that whisker-faced bastard was not bad in a close-up fight, and was no slouch in magic either," added the masked man, "Things got even harder when Wallace jumped into the fight and evened up the fight in his favor. Needless to say, the fight dragged on long enough for the Kumogakure shinobi and their _other_ Jinchūriki's team to close in on us, so we got the hell out of dodge to tend to our wounds and recoup our losses."

"And I suppose you wound up having to deal with Jinchūriki reinforcements yourself, Jinpachi?" Zabuza asked sardonically.

"Unlike these idiots, I'm the only one that ran into him alone," replied the man in question, earning glares from his colleagues, "Mei sent me on a mission to find a certain artifact in Yu no Kuni, and bring it back to Kirigakure so that we could fight Yagura on more even terms; next thing I know, this blond kid with whisker marks on his cheeks walks in before I do, about to take the artifact. Turns out that he was on a mission to recover that artifact himself, only his client told him it was an heirloom and that she wanted it back. He wasn't half bad, fighting me one on one; I daresay, we were neck in neck."

"What were you looking for?" asked Haku.

"It's classified," Jinpachi answered quickly, "If Yagura ever found out what we were looking for, he'd be sending shinobi by the hundreds to get it. Not something we need now, not with the stalemate so close."

"So what happened?" Tavish queried, engrossed in the tale.

"Well after I knocked his sword out from his hand, he reached for the artifact and started fighting me with it," continued Jinpachi, "Now let it be known that I never believed any of the stories I heard about that thing, but I _did_ see firsthand that it really was one hell of a weapon━that, and I found out that he was also skilled with staff weapons. He wasn't as good with it as he was swords, but he was good enough to keep up with me even though he clearly was out of his element; whoever taught him did a very good job of keeping him versatile. Anyway, the battle ended when we felt the building crumbling around us; apparently, we destroyed the foundations of the temple in our fight, so we had to get out fast. By the time we got out, the kid was already running off with my prize, and I was too tired to chase him down."

"So I take it all of you want a rematch with him?" finished Zabuza, sighing in exasperation.

"It appears so," answered Kushimaru, "Though it looks like we're gonna have a conflict of interests on our hands. From the way Ameyuri and Jinpachi told their stories, it sounds like they want to recruit that asshole."

Ameyuri folded her arms across her modest bust, a challenging expression on her face. "Why not? He's a pretty decent fighter on his own."

"And besides, he owes us all time for the trouble he gave us," added Jinpachi, "Might as well make use of him before we finally decide to kill him."

"Looks like we're gonna have to team up if you want a guaranteed chance take him with us to Mizu no Kuni then," said Jinin, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

…

[Tazuna's House]

Birds chirped in the morning air as the shinobi teams gathered together, watching as Naruto and Sasuke shaved the leaves off a pair of bamboo poles before wrapping cloth tape around one end. Once they were done, turned to face each other, prepared to begin the match with Kakashi standing between them in crutches.

"What the hell are you doing with that thing?" shouted the pinkette, "It's longer than Sasuke's!"

"Well, excuse me!" Naruto shot back, "I'm used to using bigger and heavier swords, dattebayo!"

Sasuke let out a quiet 'hn,' with a smirk on his face. "Like that's going to help you."

Kakashi heaved a sigh. "Well, let's get it over with. Just remember; first killing blow wins. And because the bamboo is very stiff, no stabbing moves."

The two of them were quiet as they each assumed a stance; Sasuke held his training sword as though it were a sheathed katana, his weight evenly distributed between the balls of his feet. Naruto held his sword forward with the point down, slowly circling his opponent to find an opening in his defense. Both kept a close eye on their opponent, waiting for each other to make the first move.

"What's the matter?" Sasuke taunted, "Too scared to take on a superior opponent?"

"Ladies first, dattebayo," Naruto fired back.

Sasuke said nothing in response to the barb, holding his stance while leveling a stony glare back at his opponent. Naruto opened the fight by clearing the distance between them in one stride, lightly swinging upward at Sasuke's wrist and forcing him back before stepping in to deliver a heavier counter-cut that pushed him back even further. Seeing his opportunity to get back on the offensive, Sasuke stepped back in to draw his blade; Naruto stepped back from the slash to strike back at his opponent, forcing Sasuke to block the heavy swing.

As he tried and failed to hold his opponent's blade away from his face, Sasuke pushed Naruto back before stepping back for breathing room to slash at his opponent's head. In response, Naruto ducked under the decapitating strike to slash at Sasuke's unprotected abdomen, nearly scoring a hit as he broke off from the engagement. Both swordsmen stared each other down, taking the opportunity to catch their breath as they circled each other.

"I don't like this," said Kurenai, as Sasuke and Naruto re-engaged in their duel.

"You don't _have_ to like it, but that's the hand we were dealt," Kakashi replied, his attention on the fight, "The good news is that according to Tsunami, he's not getting any money out of his deal; just free room and board until he can leave."

"It's not that, Kakashi," argued the red-eyed kunoichi, fury in her tone as she whispered back, "My issue is that we're getting help from a total stranger. For all we know, he could be a wanted criminal waiting to claim the contract on Tazuna's head. Why did you want him to help with this mission in the first place?"

Kakashi heaved an exasperated sigh. "I just want to give him a chance, see what he could put on the table. And besides, if he isn't being honest with us, then we will at least have an advantage against him when it comes time to throw him in jail. Why else do you think we've paired him against Sasuke?"

The boy in question was having a hard time fighting his opponent; every blow he deflected seemed to stagger him, forcing him to compensate for losing his footwork. In addition, it looked as though Naruto was _specifically _aiming his blows for the blade of Sasuke's training sword. _Not half bad,_ Kakashi thought to himself, _Looks like agility is the way to go for this opponent. Though I suppose it's a good thing we've got the twins observing the fight for a more detailed look._

Hinata and Hanabi sat at the base of a tree off to the side, their Byakugan active as they studied the fight intently. Their secret assignment was to watch Naruto as he sparred with Sasuke to find openings in his form to take him down in a melee, as well as to see if he had any other cards up his sleeves. He could see their blush intensify from a rosy pink to a hot red as they kept their focus on Naruto.

"There's more to it, isn't there?" Kurenai asked, "Why are you even bothering with some random drifter?"

"He looks a lot like Sensei," Kakashi answered, "In fact, I'm pretty sure his son would be about that age now."

Heaving a sympathetic sigh, Kurenai's gaze softened somewhat. It wasn't a secret that the Yondaime Hokage was expecting a son; Kakashi saw the man as a second father, and looked forward to having a little brother in his life. He was devastated when the boy had inexplicably disappeared from the village, along with the failure to find him. "It wasn't your fault, Kakashi. Nobody could've seen that coming."

"I still feel like I could have done more to protect his son," replied the one-eyed jōnin, "It's like that boy was sent to me as a reminder of my failure."

"But he's _not_ the Yondaime Hokage's son," Kurenai urged, "We don't even know if that boy is still alive."

"Maybe," Kakashi agreed, "But even you can't deny that the resemblance is uncanny."

Kurenai remained silent as she watched the fight unfold. Sasuke had given up on trying to fight his adversary directly, focusing instead on using his superior speed to attack him from multiple angles in an attempt to find an opening. Naruto on the other hand switched to a more static fighting style, focusing on his defenses as he parried blows to cover up any openings in his stance.

"His form's not half bad," Kakashi noted, watching as Naruto kept up his defense while taking every opportunity to strike back, "A lot more brute force than I like though, but he's good enough to keep up with Sasuke. If that's how he's like when he's on the defensive, I'd hate to see how he's like when he's allowed to go on the offensive."

"I'm not a taijutsu specialist like Gai, but his movements tell me that he had a good teacher and a lot of experience behind him," agreed his red-eyed colleague, "Overall, I'd say he has a very good foundation, but I still feel like that's not all he's got."

"Well we'll know soon enough what surprises he has up his sleeves," assured the Copycat Ninja, "And we'll be ready when the time comes for us to take him down. But in the meantime, we'll need all the help we can get."

Sasuke and Naruto paused in their fight to catch their breath, taking the opportunity to stare each other down. The Last Uchiha continued the fight by rushing his opponent and drawing his sword for a low cut; in response, Naruto hopped over the slash while countering with a downward cut on his opponent's shoulder. Sasuke recovered from his missed attack to perform a counter-cut, and struck his opponent in the side at around the same time for a mutual kill.

"Very good," announced Kakashi, his attention on Naruto, "I'm still not convinced you can take on jōnin, but it looks like we can -at the very least- trust in your ability ensure Tsunami's safety while we protect Tazuna."

"Happy to help," Naruto answered.

"Naruto?" called Tsunami, "I'm heading out to the market, think you can follow me there?"

"Sure thing!" replied the boy, grabbing his sword from the tree to meet his client by the porch.

As soon as they were certain he was out of earshot, Kakashi and Kurenai turned their attention to the Hyūga twins. Their Byakugan were deactivated, and they were taking a moment to recover from the strain.

"Well Hanabi, what did you two see?" asked Kakashi, as Sasuke walked towards them.

"It looks like he's more than just some Warrior," answered the younger sister, "He's got chakra coils all right, but his tenketsu points look weird; like there's more channels radiating _from_ them, like they're magic circuits."

Everybody stared at Hanabi with disbelief in their eyes. It was Kiba who would break the silence. "Magic circuits? Are you telling me he's a mage?"

Hanabi nodded. "That's what it looks like."

Magic was considered a somewhat controversial art in the Shinobi Nations. It was the act of bending reality as one saw fit, and those who practiced 'magic' were known as 'wizards' or simply 'mages.' In order to use magic, the caster needed to be born with the ability to develop 'magic circuits' in order to be able to cast a spell in the first place, as well as the words for casting the spell. There were different types of magic, but the most well-known categories were Black Magic and White Magic; Black Mages focused on summoning the elements to destroy their enemies, while White Mages sought to heal and protect their comrades.

While chakra and mana were considered the same energy, there were shinobi had argued that jutsu were objectively faster and more useful; on the other side of the argument, mages from Ivalice stated that magic was simply a lot more powerful. Their reasoning was mainly due to the fact that jutsu needed hand seals, which -quick as the caster may be- were a tell for enemies. Magic's limitations were that the mage in question needed at least twenty magic circuits to be able to cast a spell, and to remember the magic words for the spell. Then there were rumors of mages that were so powerful, that they needed only to _think_ the magic words in order to cast the spell almost instantaneously.

Either way, anybody in the Hidden Villages that were found to have the requisite number magic circuits were often referred to the local Magic University. It was from there that they would discover what sort of mage they qualified as, and to hone their skills in the discipline of magic they specialized in.

"I quickly counted twenty magic circuits in his body," added Hinata, "That should be enough for him to easily cast low-level spells. However, the materials of his arm guard obscured my vision; but based on the fact that he has four in his right arm, I estimate that he should have no less than twenty-four magic circuits in total."

"That means he's probably capable of either casting many low-tier spells, or a few mid-tier spells before tiring out," Sasuke observed, "Which is strange; he doesn't even _look_ like a mage."

"As much as I hate to admit it, duck-butt's right," Kiba added, earning a glare from the boy in question, "Reds notwithstanding, most mages I know of look like a bunch of nerds who barely do any exercise."

"Either way, we still have a job to do," Kurenai said, "So it's time for team assignments…"

…

[Streets of Nami no Kuni, twenty minutes later]

Naruto strode through the streets of Nami no Kuni with Tsunami from the grocery store, keeping vigil for any potential kidnap attempts. It broke his heart when he saw the state of the village: a Moogle shopkeeper crying in his store, and his place of work empty of customers and products; a few Bangaa sitting on the streets with a thousand-yard stare on their eyes; even a Numou that looked like he'd been kicked one too many times.

He'd heard the stories of what happened to this place; how that crook Gatō promised to stimulated the economy only to monopolize the shipping companies and turning the island nation into a slum. Then there was Kaiza, the hero that stood up to the rat, and was killed for it, further demoralizing the village and -most importantly- stealing him from Tazuna's family.

"Something on your mind?" asked a female voice behind him. Naruto turned his head to regard the extra hands who were walking with him. Since neither shinobi team was willing to trust him, each of them assigned their respective Hyūga girls Hinata and Hanabi, along with the garnet-eyed jōnin Kurenai to the guard detail to make sure he did his job, while the others trained.

"Not much," Naruto answered, turning his attention back to the job at hand, "I'm just riled up by the fact this is all happening because of one greedy little asshole, dattebayo."

"Well why do you care?" asked Kurenai, causing Tsunami to regard Naruto with no small modicum of curiosity, "You're not from around here; you could've left anytime as soon as we'd arrived."

"For three reasons," answered the wandering swordsman, "The first being that my Sensei taught me that once you get a job, it's your responsibility to see it through to the end. Besides, the boatman that brought me here is probably long gone by now, so I might as well go the extra mile to help while the bridge is getting built."

"What's the third reason?" queried the younger Hyūga girl.

"Because it's the right thing to do," Naruto continued simply, earning curious glances from all the women present, "Rich and powerful people hurting the innocent just because they can? Who _could_ turn a blind eye to that, dattebayo? I mean, Gatō's not as bad as some of the people I know of━at least he has the decency to not be a hypocrite; still doesn't change the fact that his greed is choking the life out of this place. It's assholes in the world like Gatō that make me _want_ to stay longer than necessary, if only for the chance to put them down for making the world even worse."

"That sounds a lot like vigilantism," Kurenai argued.

"Maybe, but I learned pretty quick in my travels that everyone has a price," Naruto countered, "The only question is, 'how much are you worth?' At the end of the day, you're responsible for protecting yourself and everything you hold dear, because even cops can be bought."

Kurenai was about to retort, but remained silent as she ruminated on his words. No doubt she'd encountered her fair share of corrupt cops in her time as a kunoichi. "So what got you to travel this far?" asked Hinata, quickly changing the subject.

"Believe it or not, it was my Sensei, dattebayo," Naruto answered simply, earning puzzled looks from the entire escort party, "He practically raised and taught me himself; combat, reading and writing, right and wrong, all that jazz. Then one day, we come at a crossroads in Tetsu no Kuni and he tells me that he's taught me everything I needed to know; that my new lesson is to travel the world and see everything I can. He said that life would be my teacher now."

"Sounds fun, really," added Hanabi, "You see anything nice?"

"Oh, I saw a lot of things good and bad," answered Naruto, "Made me realize how much more complicated life is without my Sensei. But that's what makes it interesting isn't it? Seeing the world in all its beauty and ugliness?"

"How do you even support that kind of lifestyle?" queried Kurenai.

"One of the first things my sensei taught me were survival skills, so I can live off the land in between destinations," supplied the wandering swordsman, "Though sometimes I work as a mercenary for merchants in exchange for a small cut of the profits and transportation to the next destination…which is part of what landed me here in Nami no Kuni. Figured I'd get enough money and free transport to enjoy the Wave Festival after my last job━what I got instead was a boatman that cheated me of half my cash, and a very depressing situation."

Before the red-eyed jōnin could respond, a man cackled as they walked towards them with two others in tow. They were all in varying states of dress, but their apparent leader wore a small blade at his left hip, ready to draw at a moment's notice, while his lackeys carried a spear and a club.

"Well look what we've got here boys!" taunted one of the thugs, "We've got a MILF, a smoking hot babe, a pair of princesses, and their boy toy."

As though on command, more thugs poured out from the nearest gambling den, all of them leering lustfully at the gathering of women. Whatever imprecations the Kunoichi had on mind for Naruto were dropped in favor of preparing for a fight.

"And we've got a bunch of pretentious idiots acting tough," Naruto replied calmly, planting the tip of his cloth-wrapped sword into the ground, earning snarls from the army of thugs, "Kinda cute, dattebayo."

"The hell?!" snapped one of the thugs. Before he could charge in, his leader raised his hand to stop him…though it was clear that he was having a hard time holding back his own anger.

"Don't underestimate us, boy," he fired back, "We're Gatō's men. That means we're all killers. And I mean it when I say we've done shit. Me? I've committed sixteen murders!"

"I burned down five buildings!" bragged the spearman.

The club wielder pulled an arm wrap to reveal two blue tattoos. "See these? That's how many times I've gone to jail for both murder _and_ arson! I'll be killed the third time for sure if I get arrested!"

"Then you won't mind if I do the world a favor by killing all of you?" Naruto asked.

A raucous of laughter filled the air as the thugs heard this, but died down as Naruto wordlessly ripped the cloth off his sword to reveal a double-edged weapon almost as long as he was tall. The leather-wrapped handle was long enough that it could accommodate a one- or two-handed grip before terminating in a steel plum-shaped pommel, and complemented a flared crossguard. Its blued and gently tapered blade was in the neighborhood of 120 centimeters long, with a smoky, wood grain pattern that seamlessly faded into a smooth mono-steel edge. There were a few deflections on the blade, but it was otherwise a very solid, well cared-for weapon that had seen its fair share of battle.

"Don't flinch boys," declared the leader, "That thing's just for show!"

Naruto sighed in exasperation. "No cure for fools."

As the three thugs charged in, Naruto's movements were a blur to all but the Hyūga twins, who watched the tussle happen with their Byakugan active. First, the club wielder was eviscerated with a quick slash across the abdomen; followed by the spearman having his head lopped off in a counter-cut; and ending with the leader losing his forearm and sword with a single power stroke. As the leader of the thugs collapsed to his knees, screaming in pain, everyone could not help but marvel at the fact that this was all done in a matter of seconds.

There was a certain calm before the storm before the thug army rushed the escorts. Naruto fought with a deceptively fluid swordplay, hacking thugs apart, while the twins used their clan's signature style to cut them down in two different ways. Hinata's variation of the Jūken cut her opponents apart from a distance and utilized her whole body, turning her into a walking sword as she tore rents into her targets with chakra blades. Hanabi's form on the other hand, was a little more brutal, using deft footwork to weave around her opponents and reduce them to a mewling heap on the floor with no more than two punches. After more than half their number were killed in the conflict, the thugs were more hesitant to charge.

"Anyone else wanna take us on?" Naruto challenged, the army of thugs running away, "Didn't think so." He then turned his attention to his client. "Tsunami-san, is there a cooper in town?"

"There was, until Gatō ran him out of business," Tsunami replied.

"Damn, was gonna ask for two coffins," Naruto groused, before hazarding a glance at the carnage, "Then again, in my experience, when the fighting gets _this_ bad, gangsters don't even bother with the coffins anyway."

…

[Konoha Torture and Interrogation Department]

The sound of agonized panting filled the air as Shikamaru walked the halls of the the Konoha T&I Department. A number of the people interred within its walls were being broken to provide the village with valuable intel…from shinobi that were found taking bribes, to infiltrators from other villages. He could always count on Anko and Ibiki to do their job whenever Inoichi wasn't in the building.

However, he was interested in one specific dirtbag. "Well, if it isn't Shikamaru," greeted a masculine voice, "Didn't think I'd see you down here so soon."

Shikamaru turned to regard the speaker. He was blond, his hair done up behind his head in a ponytail. He wore the standard attire of a jōnin on active duty, complete with flak jacket, but there was no doubt that he could handle himself if it came to blows. "Inoichi-san, just the guy I was looking for!"

"And what brings the Nara heir down here?" asked the Yamanaka head.

"I had an idea for a timeframe of the Dark Knight's attack," answered Shikamaru, "I've been looking at forensics reports of how the…victims…" at this, he grimaced in disgust when he used the word, "…were eventually taken down; what I want is an eyewitness account of how everything went down through that survivor's eyes."

"Well you're in luck, I just finished walking through his mind," answered Inoichi, "And I don't blame you; this guy got what was coming to him, if you ask me. If it were up to me, I'd take that big-ass rap sheet of his, and beat him to death with it━but at the very least we have enough info to get him off the streets and into the slammer."

The subject in question was a survivor of the Dark Knight's most recent rampage which tore apart a sex trafficking operation. Shikamaru wanted every scrap of unbiased information he had in his skull, and so he asked for Inoichi specifically because of his skill in extracting such information. "So what can you tell me about the rampage?"

"As far as I can tell, this happened over a few days, starting with the victim's lawyers found dead in a neighboring town square," Inoichi began, "After that, came what I'd call a one-man war that lasted about four, maybe five days? Anyway, in that time, your Dark Knight tore down the victim's key sex trafficking branches; he set the people free while killing everyone else, and then set the place on fire."

"How troublesome…so we've got a vigilante arsonist on our hands," Shikamaru noted, "What happened afterward?"

"Well, our man was sent to investigate the ruins for a few days before being recalled to shore up Rikichi's defenses," Inoichi continued, chuckling darkly "Didn't do him any good; your Dark Knight somehow infiltrated those defenses, killed the victim, then fought his way back out. The subject was among the last to see our vigilante friend, when his colleagues were -get this- killed in swaths with mid-level Black Magic."

Shikamaru looked at Inoichi as though he'd sprouted two heads. "You've got to be kidding. Last I checked, Dark Knights only had access to low-end Black Magic."

"Yeah, in fact most that I know of can only use low-end _offensive_ magic," admitted the older man, "But when it comes to _support_ spells, they've got an even bigger selection."

"I see…" Shikamaru drawled in thought, "This fits in with the pattern in the forensics reports; only difference is that in most of those places, there's no surviving combatants left. I'm guessing that most of the time, the Dark Knight _deliberately _killed enough of the victim's thugs that they figured the job just wasn't worth it, then left their boss to die."

"So what have you inferred from this?" queried Inoichi.

For a few seconds, Shikamaru was silent as he stroked his chin in thought. "Well, if the pattern I'm seeing is correct, then Teams Seven and Eight should be seeing the Dark Knight's declaration of war pretty soon."

…

[Nami no Kuni]

Gatō was speechless.

Before him lay the smouldering ruin of a building that was to be a casino, which was still being put out with fire extinguishers. The basis of a hotel was right next to it, it too in ruins as the I-beams showed signs of being burned as well. Whoever set fire to this project certainly didn't waste any time.

"Boss, we've got a construction worker talking," said a thug, getting his attention, "He says he saw some dude in armor waltz into the construction yard and kill all the guards before setting the project on fire."

"Are they coming back?" Gatō croaked out.

"I wouldn't count on it," answered the thug, "He says his guys feel they'd be pushing their luck if they continue on this project. That, and none of them like you anyway."

The businessman remained silent as he pondered the sight before him. "A declaration of war, eh? Well I'll bring you war!"

…

_**A/N: Time for a WAAAAAAGH!**_

_**Though I wonder who will be the boss in the ultimate encounter vs. the Seven Swordsmen?**_

…

_**Vocabulary/References:**_

_**Magic Circuits━I found that "Fate/Stay Night" had a pretty good explanation on how magic works…then I figured, why not integrate that in with tenketsu points?**_

_**The exchange with the thugs━Much of it comes from the movie "Yojimbo"**_


	4. Bonds

_**A/N: Finally got around to it! I'll admit, it's been some time before I got to it, but at least it got updated. With any luck, I'll still have your interest in this story.**_

_**In any case, do please read and review, would you kindly? And keep it classy!**_

…

[Nami no Kuni Wilderness]

Haku traversed the marshlands of Nami no Kuni, keeping her eyes open for medicinal herbs to speed up Zabuza's recovery. It was a respite from the hullabaloo that the new arrivals had caused, though she had a feeling that things were about to get awkward fairly quickly with the conflict of interest that cropped up between the newcomers. Still, it was none of her business that the remnants of the Shichinin Shinobigatana were eager for a rematch with a boy; she would do her duty for Zabuza, as his greatest of weapons.

She was brought out of her musing by the sound of exertion as someone trained. Looking through the brush, Haku noted that many of the bamboo were cut down by something extremely sharp; as if someone had sliced them apart with a razor. As she followed the trail of bamboo spikes to find a blond boy standing in front of a thick tree, a bamboo rod in his hand as he focused on his target. Within seconds, he quickly shifted into a stance, his rod taking on a bluish-purple glow as he swung it diagonally through the trunk. After a few seconds of inactivity, the top of the tree slid along the line of the cut before tipping over and falling into the dirt.

Satisfied with his progress, the boy turned around, rubbing the sweat off his forehead as he let out a sigh of relief. One look at the whisker-marks his face was enough to give Haku an idea of who it was that she was looking at; as she turned to leave, she heard a twig snap underfoot, drawing the boy's attention to her.

"Hey there, dattebayo," he said.

"Hello," she responded simply, feeling the awkwardness in the air.

"What's a girl like you doing out here?" asked the boy.

"Picking herbs for a friend," Haku replied honestly.

"Need any help?"

"I'll be fine, but I suppose I could use a little company."

The boy smiled warmly as he strode towards Haku. "Well, let's get going then, dattebayo. Name's Naruto, by the way."

"I'm Haku."

Throughout their foray into the wetlands, the two of them harvested medicinal herbs…both for Zabuza, and for Naruto's own use. At the same time, Naruto took the time to tell her stories of his travels around the world: the places he'd been to, the people he'd met, things he'd seen and done. All his experiences had enraptured Haku, hoping he'd have another tale to tell of his travels. One of his most recent adventures was an encounter with a bounty hunter named Sazanami, leading to a quest to clear his name for a murder he didn't commit.

"…and then, just as we were about to bring Gosunkugi to the authorities, we were captured, then put up on the podium to be executed," Naruto recounted, "I thought the villagers were gonna kill us for sure, dattebayo. The only reason I didn't fight back was because whether or not they were mean to us, they were still civvies."

"You're alive now, so what happened afterward?" Haku asked, deeply interested in the conclusion to the story.

"Well, that Gatsu guy walked on up to the crowd, told them that Gosunkugi fessed up and that Sazanami was exonerated for his crime," the boy continued, "Then he chewed them out for charging someone with murder then skipping straight to the execution without getting enough proof that he did it first."

"That was a close call," Haku noted.

"I know, dattebayo," added Naruto, "But I'm glad that it ended well. Anyway, after that, Sazanami went back to his forge, ready to get back to his life before becoming a bounty hunter while taking up his real name Tokichi with pride. Promised me that if my sword ever broke, I can go see him for a new one."

"Do you have anyone you want to protect?"

"I only have my sensei, and he's kami knows where," Naruto answered, "He's someone I look up to like a dad, taught me everything I know. But as much as I'd like to say he's someone I want to protect, I can't; not when he's probably the strongest person I know."

Haku looked towards Naruto, curiosity on her features. "Is he that strong?"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure if he were here, he'd make that Zabuza guy and his friend look like a joke," continued the blond.

"I'll take your word for it," Haku said, giggling, "Out of curiosity, do you have anyone else you have to protect?"

Naruto sat on the branch, silent for a moment as he contemplated his answer. "I'll be honest, I haven't taken the time to form bonds that long. I go where the wind takes me, so I know I'll probably be forgotten one day, which is why I've learned to treasure every moment I have with the people I meet━because of that, all those memories I've shared with them are my most prized possession. And when I see them smile after a long time of unhappiness? It brings a smile to my face knowing that they're happy…especially when the ones responsible for their unhappiness have paid their dues. So yeah, I guess you could say I'm a protector of people."

Haku huffed in amusement. "Your conviction is strong…that is good."

"What about you?" Naruto asked, "Who gives you strength?"

Silence filled the air for a good few seconds until Haku decided on her answer. "My friend; he found me when I was young and alone, then he gave me a purpose in life. I would do anything to repay him for his kindness."

Naruto looked at her in curiosity. "You'd go that far for him?"

"In a heartbeat." Haku replied calmly.

The wandering swordsman smiled. "Well, you're strong yourself. I'd do the same if it were my sensei."

Haku picked the last herb before turning around. "This is where we part ways, Naruto. I hope to see you again to hear another story."

"I've got plenty to tell, dattebayo."

After taking a few steps, Haku paused momentarily. "Oh, and by the way, I'm a boy."

"That sarashi you're wearing betrays you!" Naruto called out.

Haku paused mid-step, her skin taking on a bright shade of red before running into the wetlands in embarrassment.

…

[Tazuna's House]

Hinata and Hanabi strode down the hallway towards the guest bathroom with towels in hand. They'd long since outgrown the practice, but they still bathed with each other regularly; mainly because it allowed for an opportunity to settle down and just be sisters. Besides, there was only one guest bathroom in the house, and they saved time by sharing baths.

"So what do you think about what's been happening lately, neechan?" Hanabi queried.

It had been quite some time since the encounter with Zabuza and Tavish, and things were getting heated. In that time, Gatō's prospective businesses were attacked by some unknown assailant that frightened off the workers, set fire to his construction projects, and killing many of the thugs under his employ. She'd even heard that his lawyer was found dead in his office, with a threatening message that taunted the businessman, demanding he leave the village or he'd be next.

To say that things were getting desperate was an understatement, because the night raids targeted building projects that were getting higher up in the price range, which forced Gatō to step up the search for the vigilante. Whoever it was that was attacking the corrupt businessman seemed to be getting bolder with every raid they conducted…starting from construction projects that had just started to get off the planning phase, all the way up to a hotel that was about to open its doors for the first time. None of the workers or civilians in attendance were targeted, but the thugs were fair game; a good number of whom were killed with Black Magic.

While it was a trying time for Gatō, the same could not be said of the oppressed populace. At first, the people of Nami no Kuni were skeptical of the mysterious vigilante that targeted Gatō's businesses…a good number of whom, Hinata wasn't surprised if they were willing to sell them out at the drop of a hat. But as time went on, and the attacks got bolder, the Konoha teams could feel a sense of hope growing in the populace; especially since many of the workers that had abandoned the bridge were returning. Because of that, progress on the bridge was beginning to pick up the pace.

"I have a feeling that things will only escalate from this point on," Hinata replied, "With all that death and destruction, I'm sure that we will be seeing repercussions for this soon."

"You think Naruto-kun had anything to do with it?"

Hinata nodded in agreement. "It seems that way, but I don't think we should jump to any conclusions."

"Aw, c'mon sis, you heard how he was when…"

Whatever Hanabi was about to say to her sister had come to a halt when the door to the guest restroom opened in front of them, the steam billowing out of the doorway as Naruto walked out, in nothing but a towel. Both sisters stared back at him, gawking as they had an up-close and personal admiration of his muscles and the faint hint of battle scars that criss-crossed his half-naked body. His frame was midway between the thin, wiry strength of a professional soldier, and the hunks of meat that could only belong on an athlete…no doubt from swinging that heavy blade of his.

On his left arm, they noted a complicated series of tattoos transitioning from his left shoulder in black ink, going down his arm like a sleeve in intricate knotwork, and ending in a strange symbol at the back of his hand. Neither sister could explain it, but there was a certain kind of power and prestige that seemed to radiate from the ink…as though the tattoos had chakra within them.

"You girls wanted to use the bathroom?" he asked, breaking the sisters out of their thoughtful silence. Their attention quickly turned from the impressive tattoos on his arm back to his overall musculature before fainting from the mental overload of perverted thoughts running into their heads.

…

[Streets of Nami no Kuni]

Things had gotten tense since the casino in the outskirts of town was burnt to the ground; Gatō's thugs were already taking things more seriously after the incident where at least twenty-five of them were taken out for trying to accost Tsunami on the way home. It had been that way since Naruto walked into the house with the client's daughter. The good news was that they were smart enough not to mess with the Konoha Shinobi, which meant that Kiba could stroll around town for some fresh air, and not worry that much about getting jumped…this did not, however, mean that he was going to be careless.

Still, things had quieted down enough that Kiba and Akamaru still had time to put in some time patrolling the village while the client's daughter made dinner.

"We ain't takin' our eyes off him, Akamaru," Kiba said, "I mean, yeah he's on our side now, but at the end of the day, he's just a freelancer. I'll bet my life savings says the next time we meet, he's gonna be hired to come after us next."

The dog barked in response. "You don't seriously think he can take on a jōnin do you? That guy would probably say anything to make himself look good; it's all just advertisement, with nothing to back him up."

Akamaru looked back at his owner, his expression implying a question. "Okay, so he took Sasuke down a peg; but just because he can take on a chūnin doesn't mean he can take on someone like Kakashi."

In response, the giant dog turned away from his partner, a sarcastic expression on his features as though he were saying "yeah, right." Whatever else Kiba had to say was cut off when he felt a shiver running down his spine upon seeing a lone woman walking down the street toward them. Her hair was tied up at the sides of her head like a pair of red horns, and supported with a Kirigakure hitai-ate. The fact that she had a pair of swords holstered at the small of her back had put Kiba and Akamaru on edge.

"Well, well, what have we here?" asked the woman, her sharpened teeth exposed in a menacing grin, "Judging by the freakishly huge dog, you must be an Inuzuka."

"What's a kunoichi from Kirigakure doing all the way out here?" Kiba queried, his muscles tensing, "You're not with Zabuza are you?"

"I'm here for my own interests," the kunoichi answered simply, "You wouldn't happen to have encountered a blond boy have you? You really can't miss him; carries a sword around, and he's got whisker-marks on his cheeks."

Kiba flinched for a moment at the description before slowly slipping into a stance. "And what do you want with him?"

The foreign kunoichi widened her grin. "Nothing much, just to finish an argument I had with him."

"Not to mention our own disputes with him," added a voice to the left. Kiba looked around to see that he was surrounded on all sides; a bearded man with an eyepatch to his left and one with a strange headgear to his right; behind him was a lanky man in a featureless mask. All four of the shinobi around him flew the Kirigakure emblem on their hitai-ate or mask.

"We have a message for him…"

…

[Tazuna's House]

The tension in the air could be felt as everyone sat at the table…much of it directed at the blond who patiently waited at the table for dinner to arrive. However, both Hinata and Hanabi were red with embarrassment as they stole glances at Naruto, no doubt from seeing his body in nothing but a towel. While Kurenai glared at the mercenary boy with no shortage of suspicion in her eyes, Kakashi simply looked at him with curiosity. From what the twins recounted of the tattoos they saw on his arm, it sounded like Naruto had a Covenant…meaning he had ties to an Eidolon, a being of immense magical power that was potentially strong enough to subjugate a Bijū.

Besides being a Summoner, the only way to have access to an Eidolon's assistance was to enter a Covenant with them, a more powerful version of the Summoning Contract that some Shinobi had access to, and was marked on the holder in intricate, chakra-laced tattoos. This enabled a closer relationship with one's Eidolon than a Summoner would have, availing them not only to a battle comrade, but to weapons and even abilities unique to their Eidolon. The caveat to the Covenant was that, like a contract with a ninja beast, one was _only_ allowed to summon the Eidolon they were in a Covenant with. Compounding this was the fact that Covenants also depended heavily on one's rapport with their Eidolon: unless they were on particularly good terms, the Eidolon was less likely to answer their contractor's summons for aid.

However, the biggest mystery of the tattoos that Naruto wore was the fact that no two Covenant tattoos were the same. Their location on the body was specific to the wearer, but the design was dictated by the Eidolon's own unique sigil, which served as the lynchpin for the entire array; more intricate tattoos also implied a closer rapport. Covenants with Eidolons were so few and far between that one could count the number of _officially_ recognized sigils on one hand, which begged the question as to _who_ Naruto was in a Covenant with.

Whatever thoughts Kakashi had on his mind about Naruto had come to a halt when Tsunami entered the room with a large tray. "Well, it's not much, but that's all we've got for everyone in the market today," she announced, regarding the meal at the table with no small amount of pride as she set the tray on the table.

It was a simple affair consisting of a steaming pile of fried rice on a large plate with a bowl of hoisin sauce to the side, and a stack of lettuce leaves on a separate plate, but it was enough to make the mouth water. The fried rice had chives, shrimp, shredded chicken, and bits of scrambled egg mixed into it…along with what looked like flying fish eggs mixed in. There were no bowls for the fried rice, and so the only option was to put it in the lettuce before eating both; adding the hoisin sauce was optional.

Everyone clapped their hands together, ready to partake in the simple meal after a simple prayer. After a moment of reverent silence, Tsunami let out a brief "itadakimasu" to begin the dinner.

"What's the point in staying?!" shouted a voice in the stairwell, revealing itself to be Inari, "You idiots think you're all heroes? Get real! You are all probably a bunch of softies that get three square meals a day and a bed to sleep in! What do you know of our suffering here? There's no way out except in a coffin, because Gatō has so many guys that he'll kill you all whether or not you're shinobi! Face it, there's no such thing as a hero!"

"Of course there's no such thing as a hero," Naruto interrupted, his voice had an undertone of rage to it, "You're the one that's killing him."

The entire room was silent at Naruto's scathing remark, Inari even more dumbstruck than anyone else by his words. "I don't know what you were taught, but my Sensei once told me that nobody is ever truly dead; they'll live on forever as long as there are people alive that still tell their story," he continued, "Look at your grandpa: he was so inspired by your dad's example that he's building his bridge to not only save his village, but to give you a future. Even your mom's a lot braver than you, because she is doing everything she can to put food on the table, and to hold this family together. Because of that, both of them are heroes in my eyes because they honor your dad with their actions, and because they still have the strength to keep his memory alive by telling his story.

"Then there's the Konoha teams. Looking at the state of the village, I doubt they're getting paid much for this mission, but I have to commend them for seeing this job through to the end. They're already going above and beyond to make sure your Grandpa lives to finish his bridge, simply because it's the right thing to do━and for that, they have my respect.

Everyone stared, too gobsmacked to say anything as Naruto pinned Inari down with a glare. "And how do _you_ honor your dad's memory? What have you done to keep him alive in your heart? You choose to believe there's no such thing as a hero when they're all around you, and then you go up to your room crying for your loss, hoping someone would join you in your pity-party. If it were me, I would have told his story to anyone who would listen, or at least done anything to help make the situation more bearable around here."

Naruto sat up from the table, and strode towards the front door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sakura snapped as he reached for his sword.

"For some fresh air," Naruto answered, grabbing his weapon before turning his attention back to Inari, "And for the record, you're actually luckier than I am. At least you've got a family and a home to go back to, while all I've got is my Sensei, who raised me on the road and taught me everything I know before sending me to explore the world by myself. The only thing that I can call my own, other than the memories I've made in my travels, is this sword that he commissioned for my last birthday with him."

As Naruto opened the front door, he quickly side-stepped a punch as Kiba stumbled into the house from his whiffed attack. "Who the hell did you piss off?!" he demanded, a mixture of fright and anger in his tone.

"Kiba, calm down and tell us what happened," Kurenai commanded, her hands ready to perform a genjutsu.

"I'll tell you what happened, I ran into four Kirigakure shinobi in the village!" Kiba answered, "Four of them surrounded me, said they were looking for that asshole over there!" At this, he pointed to a confused Naruto. "They told me to get lost, and that they had a message for him. Now who the hell did you piss off?!"

All eyes were instantly on Naruto. To his credit, the wandering swordsman didn't seem to budge an inch under the scrutiny. "I fought a lot of shinobi in my travels, so you're gonna have to be specific, dattebayo."

"Some red-haired chick with two swords," Kiba began "Then there's that one-eyed dude with a giant scroll on his back, a masked guy with a big-ass sewing needle, and a big-nosed guy with a hammer and axe."

Kakashi processed the description of the individuals in question before bringing out a thick, black book. As he flipped through the pages, he quickly found a section of the book that matched Kiba's description. "Were these the shinobi that you ran into in the village?" he asked, showing the section to Kiba.

Kiba looked at the book, nodding in assent upon seeing four of the photos. Recognition dawned Naruto's features as he saw the pictures for himself. "Oh yeah, I fought those guys in my travels, dattebayo. Never got their names, and I sure as hell didn't know they were such a big deal."

"Naruto, you're telling me that you fought _four _of the Kirigakure Shichinin Shinobigatana?" Kakashi asked in disbelief, "And you didn't know they were a big deal?"

"Not all of them at once, but yeah I fought them all," answered the wandering swordsman.

Every Shinobi at the table had heard of the Kirigakure Shichinin Shinobigatana; especially after knowing that Zabuza was part of the group. They were seven of the finest shinobi ever produced in Kirigakure, each of whom wielded a sword of immense power; it was believed that the seven of them could very easily overthrow the Mizukage if they were to work together. To think that some random drifter like Naruto had run afoul of _any_ of them and survived the encounter was nothing short of unthinkable.

"They were all pretty tough fighters, dattebayo," Naruto continued, "Each of them really made me break a sweat, even though I never had a definitive end to any of my fights with them. To be honest, I didn't think any of them would follow me all the way here."

"Yeah? Well they're all in town," Kiba fired back, "And they want a rematch with you!"

"They do?"

"Yeah, the chick even said that they'll fight you anytime, anywhere!"

Naruto pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Great, that means they're probably gonna ambush me as soon as they see me, dattebayo."

"Not our problem!" Sakura barked, almost too enthusiastically for Kakashi's liking, "You started a fight with them, you go out and finish it."

"Not to mention the problems it could cause further down the road," Kakashi answered simply, "This is a loose end you've left behind in your travels, and it's only fitting that you own it so that it doesn't interfere with our own mission." At this, he turned his attention to Tsunami. "Unless that'll be a problem, miss?"

As she was the one who hired Naruto as a bodyguard, Tsunami quickly found herself the attention of everyone in the room. She sat in her place at the table, silent in thought for a few seconds before letting out a sigh of reluctance. "As much as I'd like for you to stay and protect my family like we'd agreed, they're right: who knows what kind of damage they'll do to the village if you don't answer their call for a rematch? All I can ask is that you come back as soon as possible once you're done."

Naruto nodded in assent, before reaching for the doorknob. As he crossed the threshold, he paused for a moment to regard his client. "I'll patrol the village, then come back here to check up on you," he said, "With any luck, I'll be able to finish this fight and get back to protecting you like I was supposed to, dattebayo."

"Naruto-kun, are you sure you'll be alright?" Hinata asked, her voice laced with concern, "They may have challenged you to a duel, but there's no guarantee that they won't all team up on you at once."

The wandering swordsman smirked in response, an air of confidence in his grin. "Don't worry, Hinata-chan," he said, earning a blush from the Hyūga heiress, "I'm _never_ alone."

…

[Elsewhere]

An orange-haired woman slouched on a throne, her long, toned legs scissored in front of her as she reclined lazily into the seat while tapping the fingers of one hand on an arm rest, the other hand propping up her head on the opposite side. Her deep, olive-tanned skin was pulled taut over a lithe, hourglass form with the musculature of a regal apex predator, simple bands of white war paint crisscrossing her exposed body in simple bands and elegant curves. She was a regal, yet deadly beauty, with streamlined predatory features glaring into the domain before her through clear, ruby eyes emphasized with black eyeshadow and the red band cutting across the bridge of her nose.

What little modesty she had was covered with a pair of rawhide boots, vambraces, and corset. The only serious form of protection on her body were ornate steel pauldrons, shin guards, splints for her vambraces, and plates of steel woven into her corset like a coat of plates. She also wore a thick, rich, fur-lined leather mantle over her body, and a golden band around her head with nine fang-like peaks. The throne she sat upon was made of intricately-carved rich wood and bone, with skulls capping the ends of the armrests. What caught the eye however, was the appearance of nine large swords that fanned out behind the seat, the largest of which was wide enough to form much of the backrest. Overall, she presented the image of a beautiful barbarian queen that was as savage in battle as in all other aspects of life.

The expanse she observed was empty, save for the shadows that surrounded her; she'd fought them enough times to know that she stood no chance against them. Alone, they were each extremely powerful, but manageable warriors in their own right; it was when they teamed up that they started to become more troublesome. There was a sense of regality in each of these figures that rivaled her own as they kept silent vigil over her, as if to ensure that her reign would always be challenged for dominion over the world around her.

"Are you going to continue staring at me for eternity?" she groused, tapping her fingers on the skull-capped armrest, "I'm itching for _anything_ to happen at this point."

"We know our duty," answered one of the shadowy figures, its voice masculine, "It is up to you as to whether you wish to fight again…milady."

"Weren't you Eidolons supposed to be more powerful than me?" taunted the barbarian queen, "Why don't you just try to put me down and be done with it?"

"We all know what will happen if you die here," answered another shadow, this time an effeminate voice, "To put you down would be tantamount to freeing you; considering the damage you've done in your hate, who knows what will happen if you were to be liberated from your cage. No, imprisonment is a fitting punishment for you."

The barbarian queen turned her attention in the direction of the female speaker, surprised at what she'd heard. "Sadistic, and from the nicest one of the lot." At this, a grin had formed on her face. "A woman after my heart."

"Regardless, you will not leave your prison on our watch," added another masculine shadow, a deeper voice than the first speaker, "Not unless you have been summoned by the boy. You may not be an Eidolon, but you still have an obligation to aid him at his request."

"And if you are freed upon the boy's death, we too shall be freed," continued another feminine form, "We will slay you, again and again until what is left of your chakra ceases to exist for all eternity."

"Think not that we do this only for his sake," finished a masculine shadow, his voice a softer but no less authoritative timbre, "We do this for yours as well; for if you destroy everything in this world, respite shall not be availed to you. Only until you have lost your hate will we begin to speak as equals."

Huffing in annoyance, the barbarian queen slumped back into her throne, arms folded under her respectably-sized cleavage and her expression like a child that had just been sent to her room. She didn't much like the last speaker whenever he spoke to her as an enemy: it made her feel bad, as she saw him as a loving father that punished his children to make sure they grew to be good people. It didn't help that she always found herself in a good mood whenever they spoke as friends, as he reminded her of her own long-dead father.

Still, she reclined in her lonely throne, awaiting the day she would be summoned by the boy…if only to have a small measure of the freedom she missed.

…

_**A/N: And now we bring in the summons, and how they work in this story. Though I have to wonder who does Naruto have a Covenant with…? Who could be so powerful as to put the barbarian queen in her place?**_

_**In any case, I apologize for any dip in quality. Multiple ideas running in my head.**_

_**Reviews would be lovely.**_

_**...**_

_**References/Vocabulary:**_

_**The Barbarian Queen's throne**_━Basically, the Iron Throne from "Game of Thrones"


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